


A Moment for Eternity

by sesshsama



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, 半妖の夜叉姫 | Hanyou no Yashahime | Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (Anime)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Breast Fucking, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Oral Sex, Slow Romance, Vaginal Fingering, ongoing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:28:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29005329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sesshsama/pseuds/sesshsama
Summary: Rin's gotten used to her life in the village, but her work as a midwife is taking its toll. Sesshomaru has been off training with Bakusaiga, mostly unbothered. But now, Jaken's worried Rin will forget about them since they never visit anymore.
Relationships: Rin & Sesshoumaru (InuYasha), Rin/Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 140





	1. Rin

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, all! This is my attempt at bridging the gap between InuYasha TFA and the birth of Setsuna and Towa. This was born mostly out of a desire to explore/explain the non-problematic SessxRin dynamic that could, should, and probably does exist off camera. I'm not quite sure how long this work will be, but things will get saucy before I end it. Fret not. With the first few chapters, I did want to give some depth to Sesshomaru and Rin outside of a romantic relationship. The domestic good times will follow.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and feel free to offer feedback. I'll try my best to incorporate it as I go!

Rin had gotten used to her life in the village. She had been present at every birth in the village, helping Lady Kaede tend to the young mothers as they pushed new families from their swollen bodies. Before she knew it, she had become a midwife in her own right, traveling to nearby villages Lady Kaede couldn’t reach anymore. 

Rin didn’t charge much for her help. It’s not like she was a seasons midwife or anything. In fact, she was probably the youngest midwife anyone had ever seen. But she liked helping out, offering Lady Kaede something for looking after her, except Lady Kaede never took the money. “Sesshomaru’s left quite enough for you,” she’d say every time.

The dog demon she had once traveled visited her less with each passing year. More often than not, he’d simply fly by above the village. Other times, she had caught him outside Kaede’s hut, nodding at whatever Kaede had to say.

It was always Jaken who ran up to her, who told her about Sesshomaru-sama’s travels and his training with Bakusaiga. How nobody must know the great Sesshomaru was still perfecting his attack. 

“Of course, this is only happening because Sesshomaru-sama had to fend for himself with a blunt sword. It’s only recently his own powerful body produced a sword worthy of its wielder…” Jaken could not be stopped once he started talking about Sesshomaru-sama.

Rin thought about Tenseiga, the sword both Jaken and Sesshomaru-sama had seemed to hate. Hadn’t it brought her back to life once? She could barely remember now. All that was left was the cold touch of death and the smell of blood. The smell of blood that was replaced by… well, she wasn’t quite sure.

She shook her head. There was no use getting sentimental just because the sun was setting as tragically as her own life had seemed to set since she was left at the village. Rin was on her way to a late shift. Minako, a blacksmith’s wife from the next town over, was about to welcome her third child.

Rin made it before nightfall and found Minako already keeled over, her two other sons clinging to their father in fear. She knelt down in front of them and pulled two dandelions from her pocket. “It’s okay. Maybe a little sister will be born today.” Rin smiled for them and the children smiled back.

“We’ll get out of your way,” said the blacksmith. He was tall and broad but had a warm smile. His beard had aged him since the last time she had seen him.

“Leave the rest to me,” she said reassuringly.

Minako’s labor was easy, her body already used to bringing life into the world.

As the head came out, Rin found herself hoping it’d be a girl, and felt something move within her when it turned out to be true. She held the crying infant, forgetting she had to clean her and wrap her up, and thought about how the child, the little miracle with sparkling eyes, did not belong to her. No. Nothing belonged to her, and she didn’t belong to anybody.

Minako rose up to get a look at her newborn baby. “Is it a girl?”

“It is! Sorry, I was too happy to move.” Rin forced a smile and quickly moved on to cleaning and swabbing the baby.

“I’ll name her Rin,” said Minako. Her hair was drenched in sweat and stuck to the sides of her neck. “Thanks to you, my three children have been brought into this world.”

Rin could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she blinked past them. “I was just doing my job,” she said softly. “But I’m honored. I hope little Rin grows to be strong and healthy.”

Minako brought the baby closer to her chest and said without looking up, “Have you considered having some of your own? I’m sure it’s been many moons since you’ve bled.”

Rin felt the ground move beneath her. “I must be going,” she said. She got up and rushed through her goodbyes, trying as much as she could to come across naturally.

It was only when she reached the bridge, far from the blacksmith’s home and still ways away from Lady Kaede’s village that Rin allowed for a single tear to roll down her cheek.


	2. Sesshomaru

Every night, Sesshomaru would fall asleep at the foot of a tree. He’d sit upright, one arm resting above his knee and the other nestled inside his mokomoko. He’d close his eyes and scan the area around them for any sounds, only allowing himself to rest if everything was silent. It usually was.

Today, however, Jaken had taken it upon himself to remind him that they hadn’t paid Rin a visit in almost a year. “Sesshomaru-sama. She’s a human, you know? She’s probably a completely different person! Or worse! What if she’s forgotten us!”

Sesshomaru scoffed. Since when did Jaken care about what Rin thought of him? After all, he’d spent most of their time together complaining about having to look after her. Plus, there was no need to visit. She hadn’t called for him. Not even a whistle. He’d realized she wasn’t a kid anymore, falling off of cliffs or wandering into traps. She was her own person, living peacefully in the human village where she belonged. As far as Sesshomaru was concerned, there was nothing else to be done.

By the time he awoke, right before the crack of dawn, he was annoyed to find Jaken was still going on about visiting Rin. Sesshomaru thought that perhaps this stretch of his training had been more solitary than usual. They had barely run into any demons.

“Jaken,” he said finally. “We’re leaving.”

From mid-air, he looked down to make sure the imp had caught on to his mokomoko. It amused him how, if one thing was for certain in this world, it was that the imp would catch on to the mokomoko no matter how fast or how high Sesshomaru jumped.

They weren’t too far from the village, not that anything could truly be considered far for someone with teleportation abilities. Kaede spotted him faster than usual, as if she had been expecting him, flaying her arms up and down like she thought he was blind.

Sesshomaru lowered himself to the ground and landed softly in front of the old woman.

“Are you planning to forsake the girl, Sesshomaru?” The old woman had screwed her hands into her hips in disapproval.

Rin was fine. She hadn’t called out to him. She was dressed and fed and, most of all, could take care of herself. At least when it came to the mundane needs and wants of humans. He had made sure there were no demons nearby. There were still no demons nearby.

Kaede sighed. “She’s an odd one, you know? As sweet and kind as they come, but I think I might’ve been wrong about having her live in this village. She spends a lot of time alone and it seems her only friends are those who fought Naraku, those who have helped save her and who understand when she talks about demons and their kind hearts.”

Sesshomaru didn’t like how she said the last part about demons, but then again, he wasn’t kind. He looked around for her. Usually, he’d spot her right away by the purple of her kimono and the ponytail sticking out of her head.

“She’s in the next town over, helping the blacksmith’s wife give birth to her third child,” said Kaede. “See, I never wanted kids. Not after everything I saw my sister go through. It’s okay for a priestess to live that kind of solitary life. The village needs you and so others will look after you just as you look after them. But Rin… the other kids from the village have married or left.”

Sesshomaru tried to understand why the old lady thought this had anything to do with him. “I brought her, but she can leave anytime she wants.”

Kaede sighed again, this time more heavily than before. “Listen, there’s no way around it. Only a few boys have taken interest in her, but she’s turned them all down. She can stay here forever and be a midwife, but I’m afraid she’ll be unhappy.” She folded her arms to drive her next point home, “Perhaps you should talk to her this time, instead of flying over us like some sort of god.”


	3. Rin

It was the silver hair that first caught her eye. Gleaming under the night sky, it was as if it was him who gave the moon its shine. Before even seeing his face, Rin’s heart was already racing.

“Rin,” Sesshomaru said without turning.

She had expected Jaken to run up to her, but there was no one but Sesshomaru around.

“Sesshomaru-sama,” she said doubtfully. She felt speaking his name would break the mirage, and he’d disappear again.

He walked towards her now, his feet barely touching the grass underneath.

She had an impulse to embrace him but she felt embarrassed just thinking about it. When he reached her, one step closer than she’d ever remembered him daring to go, she realized he wasn’t as tall as she had expected.

To be fair, it had been five years since he had last approached her. He was about to leave the village, Naraku and his plans already dealt with, when he announced she’d be staying with Lady Kaede. He had been comforted by the idea that Inuyasha and Kagome would also be close by, but she hadn’t been worried about her safety.

Rin had already been in danger. She had died more than once and come back to life. Back then, she couldn’t have understood that resurrecting wasn’t a thing humans did, but she still felt bitter about that moment. Even if he had been right in trying to keep her safe, she was angry at him for forgetting about her. Did he only see himself as her escort? A powerful inugami delivering a fragile human girl from one village to another?

“Are you happy?” he said. It was strange to hear him talk about feelings.

She felt herself pout and tried to snap out of her anger. “Yes, I… well, thank you for always looking out for me. I’ve seen you flying over sometimes.” Even she could hear the pain in her words.

He was silent for a while, staring straight into her eyes. Something in them twinkled, for lack of a better word, as if he had recognized the child inside the woman for the first time. “You want to leave the village?”

Sesshomaru’s voice was soft as velvet and deep as the ocean. His words reverberated inside her body, knocking at her chest, her gut, and…Her knees felt weak. She couldn’t help but imagine him pushing her against a tree, right there in the dark forest. Rin shook her head as hard as she could. “The village’s alright. I think…”

He turned away from her.

Rin remembered him doing that before. Whenever he knew she wanted to say more, he’d turn away. Had he been trying to make her feel more comfortable?

“You know, I’m remembering now you said you’d come back for me. When I turned thirteen, you’d come back and I’d be allowed to travel with you again.”

“No need to come with me if you were safe and content in the village,” he said, still facing away, this time for his own sake.

“But that wasn’t your choice to make, was it?”

His eyes widened.

She figured few people challenged the great inu-daiyokai, but she wasn’t afraid of him.

Rin’s heart jumped up to her throat as Sesshomaru reached his hand to her face. He looked the same as when he brought her back the second time. It wasn’t a smile, but rather a softening of his glare. He looked vulnerable, like he didn’t mind if she knew he was feeling emotional.

“Forgive me,” he said.

Her eyes stung from the tears and the salty sweat that had pooled over her eyelids throughout the day. She felt a rush of embarrassment as her tears found their way to Sesshomaru’s hand.

He brushed her tears away with his thumb and brought his face closer to hers.

Between sobs she managed to say, “Sesshomaru-sama, I didn’t want you to leave me.” Rin was weeping now, a mix of sadness, anger, exhaustion, and longing forcing their way out.

She pressed her lips tight, shaking her head in disbelief at her own breakdown. Now he’d never want to take her with him. Before him, she felt like a woman, but perhaps she was still a child in the ways that mattered. Immature, emotional, and scared to lose him.

Sesshomaru let go of her cheek and wrapped his arm around her. He brought her to his chest, her sobs muffled between his armor and his mokomoko. “I’ll come for you tomorrow. We’ll do as you please.”

It was enough of a shock to halt her crying. Rin looked up at him, seeing everything she had longed for and had never found. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything, the echo of his words still caressing her ears. Instead, she allowed herself to fall into his embrace and felt his other arm surround her.

It was there, nuzzled within his arms, that she remembered the smell that followed the steel and the blood. It was clean like moonlight and honey-sweet like the plum flowers on his sash. It was the smell of coming home.


	4. Sesshomaru

Sesshomaru left Jaken at Kaede’s so the old lady would have somebody to scold and went out to fetch Rin. He was looking for a barefoot girl with a side ponytail, suspecting she would also be skipping or humming and she had often done. It surprised him that he was already halfway between the villages and could not hear or see her.

Had it not been for the scent, he would’ve completely missed her.

There was no one but a woman around.

She was carrying a bucket with dirty towels and was wearing a pink kimono with the sleeves strapped up.

Sesshomaru tried his best to descend within her field of vision, hoping not to startle her.

It was definitely Rin.

There was no mistaking the smell. But he couldn’t bring himself to move closer. He was feeling something he couldn’t quite describe, a certain uneasiness that asked of him to check if his armor was straight or if his hair was caught up in it. Not that anything about him was ever out of place.

He couldn’t bear to turn around, so he called out her name instead.

“Sesshomaru-sama.” Her voice was deeper, but it had the same ingenious cadence he remembered, like she was always both shocked and certain at the same time.

The sound of her voice filled him with determination. He walked towards her and allowed himself to look her in the eye. They were still kind, but there was a sadness and an understanding mixed in, too. It made him wonder, for the first time, if he had been wrong in leaving her behind.

Rin’s hair was loose and nearly as long as his. There was a roundness to her chest, now pressed between her arms as she held up the bucket. She had become someone else so quickly, but that was the thing with humans. Time passed right through them.

They made eye-contact again, which happened more often now that he didn’t need to tilt his head. She was about to cry.

His mind went blank as he watched himself reach his hand to her face with a gentleness he didn’t even know he could muster. He was catching Rin’s tears now, his thumb caressing her face like if it had a life of its own.

“Sesshomaru-sama, I didn’t want you to leave me.”

The way she said his name was enough to break his heart. Destruction of life. That’s who he was. He had been asking the wrong question all along. Sesshomaru had been obsessed with understanding how a demon could love a human, but there was nothing a daiyokai couldn’t do.

He was making promises now, wrapping his arms around her wanting to stay in that moment forever. He felt somewhere deep inside that he shouldn’t let her go. That if he did, she’d go back to hating him for having abandoned her. Sure, he’d listened out for her every night. He’d kept every measly demon away. But he’d done it out of responsibility, never thinking that she craved for something beyond safety.

Rin was already outside Kaede’s hut when he came to get her wearing a purple kimono made from the fabric he had once given her. He had brought A-Un and Jaken with him, hoping that seeing their familiar faces would make her feel more at ease. He couldn’t have her crying again.

She had a pole across her back, a basket hanging from each side.

He dismounted both baskets and held them in one hand.

“I see you’ve come to your senses,” said Kaede.

Sesshomaru didn’t appreciate the liberties she took when speaking to him, but she had guarded Rin for years. At the very least, Kaede had earned his silence.

“Rin, I thought you’d forgotten about us!” Jaken was on the verge of a manic episode.

“Never, little Jaken!” said Rin.

Sesshomaru felt a tickling sensation at the corners of his mouth. Rin had wasted no time in going back to their old jokes.

“Jaken,” he said.

The imp jumped up, clearly just remembering he had a task to do.

“Kaede-sama, we must thank you kindly for looking after Rin all this time. Sesshomaru-sama will continue to provide for anything you need—”

“Let’s go,” said Sesshomaru.

“ _Hai!_ ” said Rin, mounting on A-Un with the same vitality he remembered.

“Well! We’ll meet again. Thank you, Kaede-sama!” said Jaken, frantically running to jump on A-Un as Sesshomaru began his flight towards the estate.

As he flew above the villages, Rin laughing at Jaken as they soared, Sesshomaru wondered if she’d like the estate. It had been decided by his mother he would live there, but he had barely spent any time there.

He had been on the move for so long, but now that he had Bakusaiga and had surpassed his own father in every way, it seemed rather aimless to keep traveling. Maybe they wouldn’t stay at the estate forever. Or…perhaps she’d be the one to make him stay.


	5. Rin

Rin had spent the past week trying to learn her way around the estate. They lived in the largest house at the far back, although the rest of the houses seemed vacant. The house itself had so many rooms she couldn’t even come up with a use for each of them.

Jaken had shown her to what appeared to be the master bedroom. It had a large futon and sliding doors that opened up to an onsen.

“Wouldn’t this be Sesshomaru-sama’s room?” she had asked.

“Ah, Sesshomaru-sama doesn’t sleep much,” said Jaken as he tapped things around the room with his staff. “He specifically instructed me to show you to this room.”

Her belongings had already been placed by the futon. Sesshomaru had arrived before them, so it must’ve been him who left them there for her.

By the time they had arrived with A-Un, the lord had vanished.

To keep herself from spiraling, Rin decided to get started on her chores. If she was to live in this great house, she would make sure it was clean and there was always food ready to eat. _Hm. But he doesn’t eat human food._

“Jaken-sama, what does Sesshomaru-sama eat?”

Jaken sat down, legs crossed and fingers wrapped around his chin. “…I don’t think he does. Demons don’t need to eat human food, but I think most of us like indulging in it. It’s hard to imagine Sesshomaru-sama indulging in anything.”

Rin was disappointed by the answer. If she couldn’t cook for him, how could she ever repay Sesshomaru’s hospitality?

“Oh, don’t look so gloomy! Food is all sorted out. In fact, they should have lunch ready soon.”

“They?”

“The servants, girl. Who else?”

Rin couldn’t find the words to protest. After all, they were being thoughtful, caring even.

Jaken ate with her in a big dining area that could sit a dozen people. A few inuyokai, with ears like Inuyasha’s, served their food. Rice, fish, and a suspicious elixir…a cloudy water that tasted sweet but burned her tongue. She didn’t drink beyond a sip.

There was nothing much to say or do around the estate. Jaken would boss around the inuyokai while she walked around the gardens. Days and nights went by with no sign of Sesshomaru. But she hadn’t grown restless. Rin knew, deep down, that he’d come when she called.

She was facing the cup with cloudy water now. Sake, it was called. Jaken had said that it made people really brave and really stupid, so Rin chugged down the cup.

The female inuyokai came to refill her cup, smiling earnestly at Rin, like she was relieved to see her lady had accepted her beverage.

Rin hadn’t realized she had that effect on the people of the house. If anything, she was a guest, not a lady.

She drank the second cup of sake and excused herself. Walking back to her room, she wondered why she hadn’t called on Sesshomaru. If she knew what she had to do, why had she held back?

Her knees felt weak at the thought of it. Something was fluttering in her stomach. Right. She had always liked him. At first, it was a little crush, innocent and light as a feather. It was mostly platonic as she didn’t know what feelings meant. All she knew was she’d get happy when she saw him, even if he didn’t say a word.

After he left her in the village, she had slowly started to hate him. She resented him for abandoning her, and it wasn’t until she saw him again, when he put her arms around her, that she realized she had been jealous of whatever had occupied Sesshomaru’s time. It was strange, of course, because unlike other beings, Sesshomaru hadn’t aged a day. Her fantasy was exactly as she remembered it.

She lit a candle before sliding the bedroom door shut and went to roll out her futon. As her head hit the pillow, she felt a warmth from her stomach to her cheeks. The effects of the sake, most likely. It was a soft daze, like her body had relaxed and the world seemed quieter.

“Sesshomaru-sama,” she whispered to the empty room. Just hearing his name was enough to make her heart flutter.

And then, the wind.

A single breeze swept by, and all of a sudden she knew. She got up and slid open the door that led to the onsen, her heart pounding in her throat.

He was standing there, looking at the moon with his back to her.

“Sesshomaru-sama,” she said again, as soft as the first time.

The inudaiyokai turned his face slightly, just enough to meet her gaze. “You called.” His voice was different, desperate.

She knew then that he had been waiting, every day and every night, for her to confirm to him that this is what she wanted.

“I did,” she said.

And then she did it.

Perhaps it was the sake, or the throbbing between her legs, but she ran to him without hesitating and brought her mouth to his.

His lips were cool to the touch, not like the warm and viscous lips of the village boys.

She had tried hard to forget him, but nothing had ever felt like kissing him. She felt at home in his arms, as he held her now.

Just by the way his tongue move, she could tell he had definitely practiced before. She hadn’t expected that from him, but then again, he had been alive for much longer than she could even comprehend. Maybe he hadn’t always been as solitary as he was now.

His hands found hers and brought them to his chest. He parted from her lips and came to rest his chin on her forehead. “Rin.”

She wasn’t sure what to answer, so instead she sucked in her breath, waiting for whatever it was he was going to say.

“Why,” he paused, “can humans love demons?”

Rin’s heart was about to jump out of her throat. She searched for his face, knowing she would find a pair of tears teasing to fall out of his eyes. When she had him, their eyes only separated by the bridge of their noses, she answered. “Because a demon could love me—who had nothing—so much that he even learned to care for others.”

His eyes widened, and then something took over him. He just had that look in his eye, the one that reminded her that even though he was an inugami, she, too, was an animal.

She slid her hands under the collar of his yukata, feeling the smooth skin underneath.

He undid his armor in one movement and she helped him take it off. His yukata, once fastened, now left his chest bare.

She allowed her hands to run through his chest, his stomach, all firm and silky skin.

Sesshomaru grabbed her face and kissed her quickly, moving on to undoing her obi.

Rin felt nervous, like she was about to giggle, at the sight of her breasts peeking out of her kimono. She had been wearing the purple one again.

Sesshomaru stared at her as he took off his yukata, and she rewarded him by letting the sleeves roll off her shoulders. He swooped in to kiss her again, and lifted her up.

Rin wrapped her legs around his waist, her bareness riding against his chest, and grabbed on to the hair behind his ears as he kissed her.

He lay her down gently on the futon. He left the door open and blew out the candle. It was just them and the moonlight now. He took off his shoes as he admired her body from the corner of the room and she swayed her hips to summon him back.

Rin felt her eyes widen when his pants fell to the ground, revealing what had to be Sesshomaru’s most coveted sword.

Sesshomaru kneeled before the futon, his gaze piercing her own as he slid his hands across her legs. He caught the back of her knees and pulled her towards him, spreading her legs softly without breaking eye-contact. His tongue entered her as he grabbed on to her hips, pulling her closer only to pull out his tongue and shove it back in.

A sound Rin had never made before came out of her mouth. She was pulling at the futon with both her hands as Sesshomaru continued to taste her.

He pulled back and paused before running his tongue upward across her fold, reaching his hands to find hers and bringing them to the top of his head.

Rin was confused at first, but she found herself pulling at his silver hair the instant he started to move his tongue in circular motions around her nub. Now, she was pushing him down with each inhale and pulling at his hair with each exhale.

As her body contorted from the pleasure, she would catch glances of his bare back, half covered by his hair.

He came back up to meet her.

Rin could taste herself in his mouth as he kissed her, no breath coming out of him.

He separated his lips from hers softly, opening his eyes as he did and allowing the tip of his nose to rest on hers. He kissed her jaw, her neck, her collarbone. Sesshomaru’s hand was on one of her breasts now, his thumb rubbing her nipple gently but firmly. With his other hand, he cupped her other breast and brought his mouth to it.

First, he covered her nipple with his mouth and kissed it softly, but as it hardened, he began to lick it until softened again. He switched from one breast to the other, using his hands to keep them close.

Rin’s mind went entirely blank as she surrendered to his touch.

He reached let go of the breast he was holding and brought his fingers back to her fold. He put a finger in and then another, her wetness making room for him. His fingers were arched up, rubbing against a place she didn’t even know she had.

As he continued to suck on her breast, Rin felt her body contract and a thousand jolts of pleasure course through her.

Again, sounds she had never heard came out of her.

He brought one hand to cover her mouth, gently muffling her screams as he moved his fingers even faster.

Her leg jerked from the release and he took his fingers out. Rin couldn’t believe what had just happened was possible. But she couldn’t relish in her own pleasure too long. Sesshomaru was sitting over his legs, his flesh sword shot upright, and a wince on his face.

“Sesshomaru-sama?” She was terrified that she had done something to hurt him.

He looked embarrassed at the question, turning slightly away from her. “Your turn.”

Before she could ask what he wanted her to do, he was already on his knees, edging towards her chest.

He placed it between her breasts and brought her hands to the edges of her chest. “Press,” he said.

And so she did. Against the pressure from her breasts, Sesshomaru began to thrust, first gently, and finally near-viciously, until a warm and viscous substance oozed onto her neck.

He had grunted and inhaled as it had come out. “Sorry,” he said, carrying her toward to the onsen. “Hold up your hair,” he said before walking them into the onsen.

The water was warm.

He set her down gently. Then, he cupped water into his hands and let it trickle down her skin until she was clean. He kissed her gently to signal that he was done and carried her out of the onsen and back into the bedroom.

He opened the closet, pulling out a piece of cloth he found and wrapped it around her. To dry himself, he stepped back out and shook his body like a dog.

Rin couldn’t help but giggle.

He turned to her, looking embarrassed.

She walked up to him and kissed him, which mellowed him down again.

He went to get her dry clothes and led her back into the room. He put on his pants as she threw on the kimono without the obi. When they were both dressed, he led her to the futon and slid the door closed.

In the complete darkness, Rin felt him slide inside the futon and press his body against hers. He was warm now, like he was purposefully making his skin keep the cold away from her.

 _“Ai shiteru_ ,” was the last thing Rin heard before falling asleep.


End file.
